1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an improved method for disrupting cells, and in particular to a process for disrupting the cells in a broth obtained by fermentation of a nutrient medium with a polysaccharide-producing microorganism.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In microbiological processes it is often necessary in the later stages to disrupt the bacterial cells. This requirement occurs, for example, in the preparation of intracellular enzymes, when the cell must be broken open to release the enzyme. Another example in a quite different technological context arises in the microbial production of polysaccharides for use as viscosifiers in enhanced oil recovery. In this application the hydrophilic polysaccharides or xanthan gums are added at a low concentration to water flooding operations to increase the viscosity of the aqueous system and thereby bring about more efficient, piston-type, displacement of the oil from the reservoir rock. These microbial polysaccharides appear to be particularly well suited for this polymer flooding application in that they exhibit in aqueous systems a high viscosity at low concentration that is stable to the high shear rates encountered at the point of injection into the oil-bearing formation and which is largely insensitive to high salt concentration found in formation waters.
While the outlook for the use of microbial polysaccharides in enhanced oil recovery would appear to be promising, certain problems have been encountered in practice, including the insoluble impurities present in industrial grades of these polysaccharides. In the typical commercial production of polysaccharides by Xanthomonas fermentation, the high viscosity of the fermentation broth precludes complete separation of insoluble material, such as cellular debris and nonviable bacteria, from the polysaccharide-containing broth. As a result, commercial grades of these microbial polysaccharides may contain solids which do not dissolve in dilute aqueous solution, such as that required for polymer flooding in enhanced oil recovery. The presence of these particulate solids in the polysaccharide solution presents considerable difficulty in field application of the polymer flood, because they can cause plugging of the rock face and injection water filters. Previous attempts to overcome this plugging problem have included caustic treatment of the polysaccharide solution and subsequent flocculation of the solids, and enzyme treatment to bring about disruption and consequential solubilisation of the bacterial solids in the polysaccharide solution prior to use. In many instances the enzyme treatment is preferred, since the physical/chemical conditions involved are such as to minimize any adverse changes in the desired polysaccharide. However, some microorganisms are resistant to disruption by enzymes, and the present invention is based on the discovery that such microorganisms can be rendered susceptible to enzymic disruption by prior treatment with certain surfactants. The use of surfactants for cell disintegration is known, but the Applicants have unexpectedly discovered that microorganisms which are resistant to attack by either surfactant or enzymes alone can be disrupted by successive treatments with anionic or non-ionic surfactant and protease enzyme.